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33 -- THE RETURN OF JESUS

In this section, Jesus is speaking privately to his disciples ((Matthew 24:3, Mark 13:3), rather than preaching to the world in general. Since his return as the Messiah and the events leading up to it must have been a daily topic of discussion and speculation amongst the disciples, Jesus clearly knew their questions when will these things be did not refer simply to the destruction of the Temple building.

When the Jews earlier asked Jesus for a sign to prove his divine authority, he answered them enigmatically, as he often did, saying: "Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days" (John 2:18-22). Although the Jews assumed he was speaking of the literal Temple that had taken 40 years to build, he was actually speaking of his body and his death and resurrection.

In this chapter of Luke, Jesus also appears to answer enigmatically when he tells the disciples as they admire the Temple: "There shall not be left here one stone upon another" (verse 6) -- apparently speaking of the place rather than the building itself, and so making a deliberately vague statement that could equally well apply to the temple that was to be destroyed in 70AD or to another one to be built on the same site at some time yet future.

As a result of the uncertainty in these accounts of end time events, the Christian Church throughout the ages has been unable to let down on its commission of preaching the gospel to the whole world for a witness or warning (Matthew 24:14), in the way it might have been tempted to do had it known that Christ's return could be delayed some two thousand years.

Despite the ambiguity, however, the key and culminating outcome of events is that Jesus will return as the Messiah and will establish the Kingdom of God on Earth.

FALSE CHRISTIANITY

Luke 21:8. And He said: "Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, "I am He,' and, "The time has drawn near.' Therefore do not go after them.

Jesus' central purpose in this discourse is not to make his disciples experts on Bible prophecy, but to forewarn and forearm them to endure the hardships, even martyrdom, to be encountered in carrying out his work -- the devil, all the time, seeking to deceive (Ephesians 4:4), discourage (Ephesians 6:10-19) and, if possible, destroy them (1 Peter 4:8).

Therefore, Jesus warns his disciples: Take heed that you not be deceived. Many false teachers would come in his name, he says, posing as Christian ministers, even claiming to know the time of his return (verse 8), and deceiving many people into following them.

As the New Testament shows, over and over, even in the lifetimes of the apostles, such false teachers and even "apostles" wormed their way into the Early Church (2 Corinthians 11:4, 13-15) -- perverting the gospel (Galatians 1:6), and usurping leadership of congregations (2 John, verse 7; 3 John verse 9) to create a following for themselves, but bringing Christianity into disrepute (2 peter 2:1-3). Such men are highly competent and charismatic, and admired for their intellect and eloquence (Jude verse 16, King James Version).

Verses 10-11. Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

Far from the world becoming a better, more peaceful place, says Jesus, there would be wars between nations and kingdoms or power blocks, and also revolutions (verses 9-10).

Here Jesus appears to be referring to the visions of the prophet Daniel who describes a whole series of rampaging and warring kingdoms, reaching from the time of Nebuchadnezzar all the way down to the coming of the Kingdom of God (Daniel 2:35 & 44 in particular).

Citing Daniel again (Daniel 12:1), Jesus explains in a parallel account, the world will experience the most troublesome time ever known (Matthew 24:21) -- so bad, in fact, that without God's intervention, no human being will survive (Mark 13:20 & Matthew 24:22), a scenario easily imagined in our nuclear and biological age, and perhaps throughout the ages in times of severe plague.

Perhaps Paul has the same section of Daniel in mind when he says, speaking of society in general and empty nominal religion in particular: "But mark this. There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money . . . having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:1, 5).

Adding to the troubles, there would also be major earthquakes, famines and pestilence in various places, says Jesus -- events which we may suppose to be "natural", but which, with man's immorality and misuse of science and technology, may well turn out to be self-inflicted (Leviticus 18:25). There will also be fearful sights and some kind and great signs from heaven (verse 12).

In a parallel account, Jesus compares the events that will culminate in the coming of the Kingdom of God to the pains of child birth, saying: "All these are the beginnings of birth pains" (Matthew 24:8). The implication of the metaphor seems to be that as with the contractions that precede the birth of a baby, these incidents may become more frequent and more intense.

Perhaps Paul also has these words of Jesus in mind when he employs the very same metaphor, saying: "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth, right up to the present time" (Romans 8:22).

Luke 21:12-13. But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake. This will result in your being a witness to them.

Verses 16-19. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Even before these things, however, warns Jesus, his disciples would be persecuted. Far from gradually converting the world by preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God and winning it over by their fine examples and good works, Jesus warns that his disciples would be even be hated, delivered up to the synagogues and prisons, and brought before kings and rulers for His name's sake (verse 12). His predictions are coming true day by day in various parts of the world, as Christian's are being persecuted, driven out, attacked and killed simply because they claim to follow Jesus.

As already noted, Jesus' key purpose in this whole discourse is to encourage the disciples to remain resolute in their faith and their commitment to the Kingdom of God (Phllippians 3:20), and to reassure them that no matter how chaotic the world might become, no matter how much they might personally suffer and be persecuted, and no matter how deeply the Church organization they cling to might be infiltrated by false teachers, worldly philosophies and pagan practices, God's master plan for mankind is still on course and counting down to the coming of the Kingdom, at which time the saints will receive their reward (2 Timothy 4:8).

Luke 21:20-21. "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then those who are in Judaea must take to the hills: those who are in the city itself must leave it . . .

Verse 22. For these are the days of punishment, that all things which are written may be fulfilled . . .

Verses 23-24 . . . . For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.

And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations.

These next verses in particular have been a source of much confusion and disagreement among commentators -- some claiming that the account refers to the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD, and others that it refers to a time yet future when a new Temple will be in existence.

Whatever the case, says Jesus, Jerusalem will be destroyed and the people of Israel punished for their refusal to fulfill their calling -- as was warned over and over in the what was written by Moses (Deuteronomy 28:64). The inhabitants will then be led away captive into all nations (verses 20-24 of this section of Luke) -- with the result that the nation would ostensibly cease to exist.

Although this did became the situation starting in 70AD and lasting up until the restoration of the state of Israel in 1948, Jesus' comments do seem to focus on the very end of the age, so that the sad scenario may well be repeated in the future, as the prophet Zechariah seems to be telling us when he says that in the last days God "will gather all nations in Jerusalem to fight against it" (Zechariah 14:1-3).

However, Zecharaiah says that very soon after these events: "the Lord will go out and fight against those nations" (Zechariah 14:3), that the Messiah's "feet will stand on the Mount of Olives" (verse 4 --compare this with Acts 1:9-12 ), and that "The Lord will be king over the whole earth" (verse 9). Israel's enemies will finally be destroyed.

THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES

Luke 21:24. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles [foreigners, heathen, nations] until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Once again citing the ancient prophecies of Daniel (Daniel 8:13), Jesus says that following the apparent demise of Israel: Jerusalem will be be trampled by Gentiles until "the times of the Gentiles" are fulfilled.

The word translated as Gentiles can equally well be rendered as nation, foreigners or heathen -- so that Daniel's prophecy could possibly refer to a "United Gentiles" organization occupation of Jerusalem, a possibility that would have sounded preposterous a century ago.

Daniel, was a highly intelligent young Jewish man taken captive to Babylon when the nation of Judah was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar almost 600 years BC -- and his prophecies, received in Bablyon, concern a series of Gentile powers and their impact on the Holy Land right up to the coming of the Messiah.

His specific and detailed prophecy actually allocates precise periods of time to various end-time events (see Daniel 8:14, for example) -- one of which is the time during which gentile nations would be allowed to "trample" Jerusalem under foot. If it is these various times that Jesus is referring to, then the "times of the Gentiles" would appear to begin and end in the future, contrary to the opinions of many scholars who have them starting with the fall of ancient Jerusalem almost 600 years BC.

Although Daniel's prophecies apply to the end time (Daniel 12:9-13), scholars cannot agree, as already noted, as to whether the temple in question is the one destroyed back in 70AD, or a future temple to be built in Jerusalem at some time in the future -- or whether the numbers in Daniel's prophecies refer to literal days or years, or from what date or event they are to be counted. No doubt the details will become more clear as time passes, as Daniel was informed (Daniel 12:9-10).

The important point is that whatever their starting point, the events described by Daniel are part of the count-down to return of Christ, at which moment the "times of the Gentiles" will expire and Gentile powers will be expelled from the promised land of Israel once and for all.

HEAVENLY SIGNS, PERPLEXITY & TSUNAMIES

Luke 21:25-26 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth nations will be in anxiety and perplexity at the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Finally, Jesus returns as the Messiah to establish the Kingdom of God on Earth -- not secretly or in men's hearts, as some people preach (Luke 17:21), but appearing, as he left, in a cloud, as the angels explained as he ascended to heaven after the resurrection (Acts 1:11), but this time with power and great glory, shining with the brightness of the sun (Revelations 1:16).

As with the announcements surrounding his birth, Jesus' predictions about his return are also based on the writings of the ancient prophets, the "sure word of prophecy" (2 Peter 1:19). As already mentioned, much of the book of the prophet Daniel, for example, is devoted to a description of the series of Gentile powers that would exist on Earth in the period of time between the destruction of ancient Judah by the Babylonians and the coming of the Messiah -- culminating in the establishment of the never-ending Kingdom of God that we read about at the start of Luke's gospel (Daniel 7:13-14 & 37).

Finally, notice Jesus' warning to his disciples: "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth" (Luke 21:34-35) -- a warning that is later repeated by Paul (1 Thesslonians 5:1-11).

Notice also another implication of Jesus' words -- namely that, even at the very end, his disciples will still be a tiny minority and all those who live on the face of the whole earth will not have been converted, but will carry on ignoring their message , as did the depraved citizens of Sodom, and the people in the days of Noah (Luke 17:24-30), despite hearing his preaching (2 Peter 2:5), seeing him building his ark .

Although, from the context (Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4), Mark's and Luke's account appear to be complementary reports of the same discourse, it is possible that Matthew's refers to a different occasion, since Jesus was visiting the Temple daily at this point (Luke 21:37).

In Mark's account, as in Matthew's, we read that Jesus tells the disciples to flee Jerusalem they they see "the abomination that causes desolation [astonishment] standing where it [he] does not belong" (Mark 13:14) -- with the added editorial comment: "let the reader understand". The significance of this phrase has also caused great puzzlement amongst commentators, some thinking it applied to the Roman army in 70AD, some to a statue and some to an evil person.

In giving this very specific warning sign, Jesus is yet again citing the words of Daniel who tells us that the abomination will be set up in the Temple by a wicked and powerful ruler immediately after he intervenes to abolish the ancient Mosaic system of daily sacrifices that had he had earlier allowed to be instituted (Daniel 9:27. See also Daniel 11:31, 12:11).

In warning Christians against erroneous teachings and even counterfeit pastoral epistles, Paul offers the following very specific sign of the imminence of Jesus' return, saying: "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . Do not let anyone deceive you . . . for that day will not come until . . . the man of lawlessness is revealed . . . he will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God" (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).

Also basing his comments on the prophecies of Daniel (Daniel 7:25; 8:11, 24-26), Paul goes on to explain how the world will be deceived by the miraculous powers of this wicked impostor. Some commentators suggest that this "man of sin" is, or will be, the "abomination that causes desolation".

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